


Fate/Kaleid: Anderthalb

by Haza_Souz



Category: Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA ILLYA
Genre: F/F, Quest, Series plot rehash
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-09
Updated: 2013-12-31
Packaged: 2017-12-28 14:21:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/992905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Haza_Souz/pseuds/Haza_Souz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Cards were captured; the friendship joined. From here on out, what could possibly go wrong?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Amusing And Unamusing

"Fix Miyu?" Illya tilted her head, her cap sliding off her hair such that she had to quickly reach out and snatch it out of midair and put it back on her head, coughing weakly. "Ahem - fix Miyu?"

"Not fix as such," Suzuka said back with obvious discomfort. "More like... tune up. Make even better. Improve her."

Miyu, arm linked with Illya's, stared stone-faced back at Suzuka. "I'm fine as I am. Right, Illya?"

"R-right..." The albino girl smiled weakly, subtly attempting to get her arm out of Miyu's iron grip with no success.

But, at least this was better, right? Illya sighed to herself. Miyu was a dear friend, she really was, but even the airheaded Illya had to admit that she hadn't handled their relationship very well. From being distant and dismissive one day, to clingy and possessive the next, Miyu was a friend who required very careful handling, lest she take a joke for the real thing. Illya didn't want to think about what would happen if she jokingly said 'I hate you!' to Miyu...

(However, she wasn't 'normally' possessive - she didn't get intrusive about what Illya did or where she went or who she hung out with. The fact that she was with Illya most of the day and had no need for such questions was basically irrelevant, right? Anyway, it was flattering, how highly she prized Illya's friendship... A little. Maybe. Kind of.)

"But anyway," Suzuka forged on with the wretched determination of someone who'd promised other people present to not drop the subject until a certain goal was reached. "Have you ever been to an amusement park, Miyu?"

The dark-haired girl looked blankly at her, which she took as a 'no'.

"Right, so that's a point against you, right?", she said with a twitch in her brow, wilting under Miyu's calm stare. "I mean, if Miyu doesn't know how to act at an amusement park, then we can teach you how to do so!"

The quiet girl's continued stare implied strongly that she didn't really think this was necessary. Suzuka moved her eyes over to look at Illya and waggled her eyebrows frantically, begging for help.

"Well..." Illya began, looking at the ceiling. "I don't think you need a solid reason to go there. It's still really fun to go to an amusement park." She turned and smiled at Miyu. "I'd like to go there with you, Miy-"

"I'llbethere," Miyu said quickly.

\----

The sixsome walked together along the carnival alley, chattering and hefting cotton candy cones of varying sizes.

"-Not fair!" Tatsuko whined as Illya tuned back in, trying to remove the carnage of her snack from her sleeve. "How come you did better than me at the popgun stand, Miyu-chan? I call bullshit!"

"It's easy to aim properly," Miyu said, sounding honestly confused. "You just take a deep breath, pick your target, and pull the trigger..."

"Khhhh!", Tatsuko hissed, and Nanaki had to cheerfully grab her collar to prevent her from assaulting Miyu. "You lie! You've got some sort of secret technique - some hidden powerup or something, or a bloodline limit to let you see exactly where to shoot..."

Mimi tapped Illya's shoulder, the albino raising her eyebrows, then following her friend's arm to see the Ferris Wheel. "Hey, let's go on the wheel! We can see the entire park from there!"

Tatsuko's expression turned from furious to excited with frightening speed. "Hell yes!"

Illya leaned back from the ball of excited energy which was once her friend, raising her arms defensively. "Hey, hey, cool down..." She glanced over Tatsuko's shoulder and saw that Miyu had lowered herself on her feet, ready to pounce on Tatsuko and probably wrestle her down should she get any closer.

"Well... it sounds like a fun idea, at least." They couldn't be next to each other for all eternity, right? This would be a good opportunity for Miyu to start hanging out with Suzuka, Mimi and the others, instead of merely existing in the same country as them like now. All she had to do was make sure she wasn't in the same car as Miyu.

In retrospect, it was probably a really bad idea of her to let Mimi order the tickets.

\----

Why this, Illya thought gloomily as the little two-girl pod creakily began rising into the air. It seemed to have been built to let especially sappy couples get all close and comfortable, so Miyu and Illya had quite a bit of space to themselves. Of course her friends would notice how she was trying to create distance between herself and Miyu, and of course those nugheads would pair up to force them to get into the same cab.

The short albino sighed and stared out of the window, over the park which was becoming smaller by the second, at the lazily-darkening sky of early evening. Rin-san and Luvia-san said we had to keep fighting, she said to herself, but I'd be fine if they just left me alone for a while. At least Ruby and Sapphire weren't buzzing around them, having taken the day off...

What do magic sticks even do on their day off? she wondered. It's not like they had a salary to spend on accessories, anyway.

Illya resolved to take a picture of Ruby when she got home, and cross-check it with the stick's appearance the next time a holiday came up.

It dawned on her that Miyu wasn't glued to her like normal, and she looked over at her friend in mild confusion. She seemed normal, sitting there, her legs barely reaching the floor, staring down-

Okay, maybe not entirely normal. "Miyu-chan?" She reached out and touched Miyu's upper arm, leaning over. Strangely, Miyu only shivered in reaction. "Hey, are you-"

"I don't like heights," Miyu spilled out, blinking slightly too fast. Her hands gripped the seat as she spoke. "Usually... usually I have Sapphire with me. Usually, I can stand, but I can't do that kind of magic with help yet."

Illya remembered the time Luvia had shoved her out of a helicopter and moved closer, her hand moving up to lie on Miyu's shoulder. "Hey, don't worry. It's almost impossible to fall out of these - look, the door's sealed-" Miyu seized up as she reached out to prove her point, so Illya stopped.

"But what if it isn't?" Miyu trembled. "What if-"

"Then I'll catch you," Illya replied, gripping her more tightly. "I promise, you'll be fine. I'll catch you."

The girl remained still for one moment more, before she gingerly half-turned and put her arms around Illya's chest, holding her head squarely in the nook of the other girl's neck, leaning into her. Illya considered what she'd been trying to do, then gave up and put her arm around Miyu. It was calming, certainly, and Miyu's shaky rhythm was slowing noticeably.

Faintly, Illya noticed that the horizon didn't seem to be moving all that much anymore, and the rocking motion that guaranteed rotation was completely gone. Most likely some sort of mechanical issue, or a slow passenger was trying to get on. She felt a tugging at her shirt, and tilted her head automatically downwards.

Coming up at her was Miyu's face, suddenly red-cheeked and worried. It was moving slowly, but there was a sparkle in Miyu's eyes that Illya hadn't seen before, and her head was angled rather oddly.

Automatically, instinctively, Illya let go and even pushed her away a little. Instantly, she regretted it, seeing in slow-motion how Miyu's face turned from hopeful and tense to brittle and horrified.

"Sapphire!", Miyu yelled out in a strangled voice, shuffling further away from Illya in fear. "Please, Sapphire, please come here..."

"M-Miyu-chan! Wait, don't... I didn't mean to..." The words died in Illya's throat, reaching out to her worried friend, who was now pressed against the door and cowering.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the flash of blue against the horizon seconds before Sapphire arrived - loyal, and capable of hearing far beyond normal sound range, Illya's brain noted - and hovered just outside the little cab.

"O-open the door!", Miyu cried out, scrabbling at the door, and Sapphire didn't argue before unsealing the door. Miyu's weight was against it, so the moment it loosened, she toppled backwards with a sharp yell of surprise.

"Miyu!", Illya cried out and lunged forwards, grabbing only empty air. For an instant, she felt sick to her stomach, which was only slightly relieved when Miyu's changed form jumped up and began running away on ripples of mana, and a faint glimmer hovered in the air behind her.

"Miyu-chan..." Illya reached hopelessly after her until she was nothing more than a dot on the horizon, then sat down in a hunch with her chin on her knees, trying to sort her feelings out.

This was all her own fault. She'd acted weird towards Miyu when she'd been off sick that one day, and the long, painful reunion and then... almost kissing her... hadn't helped at all. She hadn't thought very clearly about Tatsuko's abrupt claim of 'completing her route already' at all, and now this...

Miyu... probably liked her, Illya realised. Not just as a joke or as a substitute for friendship, but like-liked her.

So how did she feel about it?

"Hey, Illya, you in here?", Ruby asked as she (it?) floated inside, clearly having followed Sapphire. "You okay?"

"Ah, yeah, I think..." She reached over and closed the door before the wind got too bad, and felt the wheel lurch back into more. "Ruby? Are you any good with illusions or holograms?"

"Holograms?" If a stick could have thrust its chest out triumphantly, it would have. "Why, I'll have you know that I possess an inbuilt, 360-scansolid proj-"

So, at least I'll be able to pretend Miyu was still here, Illya thought, while another part of her head pondered more complex things. I have to make excuses and leave early so they don't notice anything.

"Hmm?", she blinked and looked up at the wand, realising her wand had been talking. "Ah, sorry, Ruby, I was thinking about something."

"I said, 'You've got training tomorrow.' Magical Girl training! Ahh, I wonder what kind of Breaker Rin will teach you..." Ruby said excitedly to it-herself.

I thought we'd caught the seven cards, Illya thought. What could there be left to fight?

\----

"I thought we'd captured the seven cards already," Illya pointed out with her hand raised as though she was in class. Miyu sat hunched over at the very far end of the bench the two trainee mages were on. "What's there left to fight?"

"Good question. Well, see..." Rin scratched her head. "You know how there's an international community of mages who work together to improve the lot of the world?"

"Yes?"

"Well, no one's told them." Rin coughed into her hand, and went on. "As such, it's not absolutely impossible to think that some mage who gets wind of the cards and attempt to steal them for some no doubt nefarious scheme."

"Rin-san?"

She raised an eyebrow at Illya, whose arm was still raised. "Yes?"

"What kind of scheme is a nefarious scheme?"

"Uh... taking over the country?", Rin replied blankly, side-eyeing Luvia for support and utterly failing to get any. She noticed that Illya's hand was still up. "...Yes, Illya, what is it?"

"Why do we need to train? I mean, isn't using Install just stronger than most people can handle with and is unknown to them so they're not prepared for it as well?"

Finally, a useful question. Rin glanced over at her rival, who stepped forwards.

"Do you know the theory behind Installing?", Luvia began. When Illya shook her head and Miyu didn't offer input, she went ahead. "It's a lot like a fusion technique; you immerse your own consciousness in the essence of that of a Heroic Spirit. You become that Spirit for a short time, enabling you access to that spirit's special abilities and weapons. Now, can you tell me why this is a bad thing?"

"It isn't," Rin cut across her. "It's only bad in excess."

"I'm trying to teach these two something," Luvia hissed out of the corner of her mouth.

"They don't even have a firm grasp of basic mana theory," Rin mouthed back in a stage whisper. "How the hell are they going to get this?"

Luvia shot her a foul look. "A-anyway, the monkey is right. Short-term, there shouldn't be any untoward eff- there shouldn't be an issue. But, if you use it continuously, you run the risk of eventually erasing your own identity, just like if you dropped a white shirt in the wash with a bunch of pink clothing."

"Pink's a nice colour, though," Ruby chimed in and darted neatly away from Rin's punch.

"So, you have three choices: Firstly, you can become a proper mage, one who does not rely on the Kaleid Sticks. This takes a lot of time, which we don't have. Secondly, you can keep on using your current powers and hope they'll be enough - which I can almost guarantee you they won't be. Any mage willing to set out and capture the cards will be strong enough to defeat them, which is roughly where you're at," Luvia went on, ticking the options off on her hand.

"And?" Illya was leaning forwards, suddenly excited.

"Third: you learn how to use Includ- hey! What's the sigh supposed to mean?!" Luvia demanded.

"I thought you were going to tell us of a cool new combination move..." Illya pouted and crossed her arms, Ruby doing much the same.

"You're learning about the basics of using them in battle. The Include system is simple, straightforward, and has absolutely no risk of turning you into a person who was supposed to have died two millenia ba- will you stop pulling faces!"

"Boo," Illya grumbled, arms folded.

"Sapphire, Ruby, please generate the Mirror World," Rin said smoothly, the smug smile on her face at being calm and composed while Luvia seethed not quite fitting her measured tone. "Card selection: Saber." She held out the little card showing the armoured knight, and the wands touched it in turn before returning to their owners.

Miyu stood jerkily up and Illya hastily transformed while no one was looking her way, feeling the familiar sense of sickness and vertigo churn as the ground dropped away into a kaleidoscopic pit-

She wavered slightly, then stabilised and looked around. They were in the same park as before, the only difference being that now there was a tall figure in completely black armour standing in the middle of the carousel, clashing visually with the childish jungle gym and swings that surrounded her.

The albino felt her throat seal up, even as Rin sauntered over to the visored titan.

"Hey, Saber-"

"Pyped," the woman cut across her immediately, head snapping around to face her, the sword that looked more like a chunk of iron than a work of deadly art resting at her side.

"Sorry?"

"Please refer to me as Pyped," Pyped said, the faint clanking noises she made when she took each step sounding less ominous and more ridiculous in broad daylight.

Rin and Luvia sank into silence at almost the same time. Pyped ignored both of them as they sounded out cries of 'You mean puppet?! No, I figured it out first!' and slowly clanked over to Illya and Miyu, the former of which stepped back, Ruby raised cautiously.

"I cannot teach you without the proper gear," Pyped said, and Rin broke off her argument to hurry over to the pair of girls. In an instant, Illya fancied she could just see through the visor, seeing the cold stare of hatred Pyped turned on Rin, making her shudder.

"It's okay, okay? They've been bound under elementary puppet charms to calm them down. They're just training dummies, basically..." Rin said soothingly, handing what looked like a cheap copy of Saber's card to Illya. (Of course, she realised; the actual card was part of Pyped, most likely.)

"Elementary?", Illya squeaked, even as Ruby morphed into a large two-handed sword, the young girl immediately letting her wand-sword slam into the ground.

"It's fine, I said. They're just slightly more intelligent punching bags."

Illya stared at Rin as she moved away and took Miyu off to the side - she must have seen how Miyu was acting, Illya realised belatedly. Well, she must have her reasons-

Illya was torn unsubtly away from her thoughts as she heard Pyped's giant sword swinging down to cut her in half, frantically raising Ruby's edge to block; the force and impact made her arm go numb and she stumbled back.

"Pay attention. I will not repeat myself," Pyped said menacingly, raising her sword for the next strike. "The strike must come from your waist - twist your entire body against the blow, use the natural tension in your back to swing it like a hammer. I will demonstrate-" Swish, the blade sang through the air, severely inconveniencing a nearby fly.

'I thought at least today of all days I could sit around and just watch anime all day,' Illya noted gloomily to herself as she hefted Ruby and copied the motion of the armoured knight.


	2. Arming and Disarming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things go Bad(tm).

CHAPTER TWO: Arming And Disarming

Illya felt the shock travel up her arms, the giant broadsword clanging against Ruby and driving her back another step.

"Bad footwork! The blow should flow away, not crash against you like a wave smashing into your face!", Pyped admonished, and Illya dearly wished the intimidating Spirit would turn her back so she could poke her tongue out in vengeance.

Before Illya could be put to the sword even more, fortunately, Rin stepped forward from the sidelines and brought a hand up to interrupt the 'training'. "Enough for now. Miyu gets a turn now," she said and waved Illya over, and Ruby de-transformed with a relieved sigh. The battered mage-in-training lifted the card up and stumbled towards the bench where Luvia sat, Miyu quickly taking it and walking past with averted eyes.

Illya halted, half-heartedly reaching for Miyu's shoulder, but kept going when she noticed the little twitch of the girl's shoulders.

"Is there a problem?", Luvia asked primly, watching Rin give Miyu some kind of pep talk.

"What? No! No problem! Fine!"

"...She is my maid, you know. Regardless of anything else, it's partly my duty to ensure Miyu is in a fit state to continue at her post-"

"Then stop making her work as a maid! She's just a child!", Illya yelped out with balled fists. "She shouldn't have to be worried about... about worker evaluation, or how she's going to do her homework between work shifts and this new training schedule!"

Luvia blinked. "Miyu is perfectly capable of performing both her obligations and her sch-"

"Just because she can doesn't mean she should have to!", Illya cried out, shoulders shaking with anger. The older girl looked at her face, almost tearing up, studying closely.

"This isn't what you're worked up about, von Einzelbern," she murmured, and didn't need the twitch of Illya's shoulders to know it was true. "How is your relationship with Miyu? Is there a sticking point that you hope doing this now will put you back in her good graces?"

"..." Illya stared at the ground. "...What happens to the cards if I accidentally defeat the body it currently holds?", she deflected.

"A good point," Luvia said, acknowledging the mood. "Before, that simply released the Cards - but now, because we're directly using them as catalyst points for the puppet bodies, doing the same thing now will..." She considered it, then forced a grin. "Well, let's just say you should aim to miss when we move on to blast training with Caster," the young lady said with a worried grin-

A shout of pain and surprise sounded out, but the sudden sound was not nearly as sickening as the way it shut down an instant later. Illya and Luvia jumped up in surprise, just fast enough to catch the sight of Rin's motionless body crunching into a tree and falling the the ground-

"RIN!"

Luvia was already moving forwards, blasting off to the side with jewels clutched in her hands as Miyu raised Sapphire and Pyped pirouetted to slam the blade into the wand.

"I'm inexpendable?"

Illya shivered, the wooden voice creaking with violence and malice, and the iron knight was cloaked in thick darkness. When it vanished a second alter, the armour was gone, replaced by a jet-black tunic and leather overcoat, and her sword had suddenly become jagged and saw-toothed-

Luvia crashed into her, hand holding out a blasting gem with rage in her eyes, but Pyped simply raised a hand (she was holding her sword with only one hand, Illya realised numbly) and caught the young lady's oncoming wrist with ease. She twisted and stepped, throwing Luvia bodily into Miyu and sending them both tumbling, keeping her massive blade held like a willow wand.

Ruby glowed in Illya's hand, gathering power-

Pyped stamped down on Miyu's chest, driving the air from the girl's lungs, putting her sword at her neck, then twisted her hand and grinned cruelly at Illya.

"You heard her. Destroy me, and the Card is dead forever. If you run, you might survive." But you won't, she seemed to add. You'll just stand there paralysed by decision while I kill the people who captured me and bound me. She pushed down to crush Miyu's ribs, the girl screaming weakly in pain, and then the red-pink blast fired from Ruby caught her in the waist.

"What?!", Pyped coughed out, and perhaps in the instant before the next, larger blast hit, she tried to reform her armour.

And didn't quite make it.

"Miyu-chan!"

The blast faded, and the three injured mages fought to try and get up with varying degrees of success. Illya felt the rush of blood leave her head and she dropped Ruby, shaking visibly, before the image of Pyped going to pieces as the explosion engulfed her flickered before her eyes and she turned and threw up noisily.

"Urgh..." Luvia spat out something that looked too red to be just spit and placed her hand on her chest, testing for broken ribs. She sat up and looked around for the others to get her bearings again when her eyes widened in horror again. "Rin! W-wake up!"

Illya tore her eyes away from both the dirtied grass and Miyu, to see six ugly black clouds of distinct shape pour out of the holsters and above Rin's body. They swirled around, then as though sensing Illya looking at them, they coursed and spiralled at her. She raised Ruby shakily, fighting not to fall over, not even sure of what to do.

A bright barrage of gems rained down and exploded in the midst of the pack of spirits, scattering their assault at least a bit. Two spun off and spiralled, the darker of the two curving wildly and crashing into the ground with a very-much-real impact.

"Luvia-san?", Illya stuttered, as the crashed Spirit was struck with another ray, binding and capturing it-

That still left five spirits rushing at her, and she stumbled back another step-

Ruby and Sapphire, realising neither of their masters were in any shape to take action, glowed and pulsed in unison, and the usual kaleidoscopic wormhole dropped away between Illya and the spirits. Whether it had been intended or not, the spirits spiralled off and fled down the colourful corridor, leaving nothing but a wispy smoke behind that died only seconds later as a sign they were even there at all.

The portal closed and resealed, the bottom falling back into the world and Illya felt her knees nearly give way underneath her. It had happened so fast, but felt like months-

Miyu groaned in pain, and suddenly a whole lot of the rest of the world was forgotten, and Illya flew - literally - over the grass to reach her friend-ish. "Miyu! Miyu! Please, stay with me!", the albino blubbered and didn't dare embrace the girl, for more than one reason. She awkwardly let her hands hover over Miyu, fearful of worsening her injuries.

"It should be okay by now," Sapphire croaked feebly and was immediately tackled by a sobbing and laughing Ruby. "Sh-she broke a few ribs, but I've set the fragments that were dangerous... No, please, Ruby, take it easy..."

"Th-that was scaaaa-aaaryy, Sapphire-chan," sobbed the wand and tried to cuddle up to her 'sister' as best she could.

Illya turned back down to Miyu and hugged her tightly, despite weak protestations from the blushing, weakened girl. "No... be careful..."

The albino magical girl couldn't hold back her relieved sobs and, without thinking, kissed Miyu's cheek in the middle of her hug, just glad to be alive.

Luvia smiled half-grimly at the two batted pairs that mirrored each other so well, then shuffled over to Rin, who was starting to return to the land of the living.

"Hmph. Ungrateful little brats. We survived too, y'know," she said without venom. Rin tried to get onto her feet next to her with the trunk, but the vicious blow to the head had taken a heavy toll on her and she slumped to a sitting position moments later. Luvia watched her for a moment, then reached out her hand to pull her rival up, which was accepted.

"Binding needs to be strengthened," coughed Rin, still wavering back and forth even while standing. "Won't hold the Spirit for very long."

"No 'good job'?"

Rin raised an eyebrow and they grinned at each other, before their eyes travelled down to their hands, still clasping each other tightly.

"...I'm still feeling shaky. Going to need your help standing upright a bit more."

"Hmph. Well, if there's no other way..."

"There isn't."

"Good.

\----

In the park, five black cloudlike wisps rocketed from solid ground, then flitted around for a moment. Free! Such delicious sights and sounds, freedom all around, filling the entire world - yes, this wasn't a contained room, but a full universe!

They calmed moments later, gathering in a rough circle, the outlines spiking and flickering as if in communication, then they shot apart, looking for something...

\----

Taiga Fujimura strolled along the school hallways, giggling to herself. Sure, she had the day off, but tomorrow's lesson required a bit of a prepping - after all, how could she be expected to teach the students about basic mechanical physics without a catapult to practise with?

She stopped and raised an eyebrow. One of the ceiling lights was dimer than the rest. Ah well, something to bring up to the janitor the next time a staff meeting was called, she thought, and then she died.

Well, no, not really. Her body moved around and made noises for quite a bit of time afterwards, but how that thing thought and acted couldn't really be called human anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens, just like the characters used in R-rated fanfiction.
> 
> I'd also like to apologise to Mr. Pratchett for stealing so many writing conventions. Go read Monstrous Regiment sometime, it's anti-war satire with lesbians among the mix.
> 
> I'm adding italics to the mix, at some point, I promise...

**Author's Note:**

> For comedic effect, here is the sum total of my knowledge of Fate/Stay Night:  
> \- There's this girl who's King Arthur except she was always a girl.  
> \- There's this know-it-all magician girl.  
> \- They bang at some point.
> 
> And, what I know about Fate/Zero:  
> \- King Arthurina's still in it.  
> \- There's this albino woman who has a shit life.  
> \- They also bang at some point.
> 
> Three cheers for canon research! Hip-hip hooray!
> 
> But, anyway, this is a sortof sequel to the main anime series. (Note that I have not read the manga.) Uh, questions, reviews and comments welcome, and hello if you're reading my work for the first time.


End file.
